Victoria Zigler's Blog: Zigler News, page 173

November 17, 2014

Guest post: living with Glaucoma

Ever wondered what it's like living with Glaucoma?

Well, I did a guest post on http://mooneyesrandomsmile.blogspot.ca about it.

The guest post can be found at http://mooneyesrandomsmile.blogspot.ca/2014/11/spotlight-monday-victoria-zigler-guest.html if you'd like to read it.
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 17, 2014 04:16

November 15, 2014

Gerbil photos - November 15th 2014 (FD)

Time for some gerbil photos!

Here's Baggins by the gnawing block:


Bilbo's a bit camera shy sometimes, but Baggins is always ready for a photo, so waits impatiently in the background for an oppertunity to pop up in front of the camera...


Hi Baggins!


If you want to get a photo of Bilbo, your best bet is to bribe him with some nibbles. Cheese or pumpkin seeds work best, since they're his favourites.


Both of the gerbils like to meet up with the degus at the point where their cages are side by side. They have little rodent chats; it's really cute! They seem to be good friends... Perhaps they like to do it so much because both species are very sociable? Anyway, here's Baggins chatting to one of the degus:

Those are all the gerbil photos I have for you today.
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 15, 2014 02:29

November 14, 2014

Degu photos - November 14th 2014 (FD & kinda LBE)

I've got a few new degu photos to share today.

First, here are a couple of the degus enjoying the coconut shells I gave them after making the coconut cake I made from scratch back in September:


"Mmm... Nibbles!"


Here's the degus' latest cage:


We've had to make some changes to the layout since We added another hammock, and had to move things around so their bowls were on the bottom level because they thought it was great fun pushing them off and watching the food go everywhere. But you get the idea.

Here's one of the boys by one of the bowls before we moved them:


"Mmm... This wooden shelf tastes pretty good!"


One of the degus is obsessed with a wood and rope climbing toy we got them, which is designed for rats. He thinks it's very tasty!


Here's one of the boys on the wheel:


And here's one of them diving in to the sand bath:


And here are all four of the boys in their new cage:


Just before we got the new cage, we moved the degus and gerbils closer to the heater so they could benifit from the heat better when it started to get really cold (which it did not long after we moved them, and the weather's not been all that warm since). Judging by how they like to sleep on one of their ledges - right where they'd benifit most from the heater's heat - I'd say the degus approve.


They also very much approve of the hammocks I made for them.


I made the hammocks using wash cloths with small holes cut in the corners to thread the rings of keyrings through. The keyring rings are what are then used to atatch them to the bars of the cage. I got the idea from the one Luna had.

Anyway, here are a couple of photos of three of the degus just hanging out and enjoying the heat from the heater on a chilly morning:

OK, so I had more than a few degu photos to share, LOL!
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 14, 2014 02:31

November 13, 2014

Jo-Jo

This is Jo-Jo, or simply Jo.


Though you may not know it to look at him, Jo will be 29 years old this Christmas.

Every child has that one special toy, and Jo-Jo is mine.

I got him for my second Christmas, and all through my childhood he went with me everywhere I was allowed to take him. He was a part of the family; treated as much like a real baby as a doll can be, and even had his own stocking and gifts every Christmas.

That is, until he was packed in a box for a move when I was 15, and got put in the attic.

But now he's been rescued from his box in the attic, and given a new outfit!

Trust me, he really needed the new outfit. What he was wearing wasn't new when he got it, and didn't do too well in the attic. Most of his clothes were either brought new for him, or given to me for him in "as new" condition by people who had babies who had outgrown them before they wore them much, but some of his stuff wasn't in the best of condition when I got it, and - of course - it had to be one of those outfits he was wearing when he went in the box. We got him a whole new outfit a few weeks back though, which you can see on him in the photos at the top of this blog post.

He won't be going everywhere with me like he did when I was a child, but at least he won't be shut in a box in the attic any more. And now he even has his very own blog post!
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 13, 2014 02:59

November 11, 2014

Remember



Today is a day set aside for remembering.

It's officially meant to be for remembering those brave men and women who gave their lives in the hope doing so would keep the rest of us safe.

I've got others to remember today too.

One is my beloved West Highland White Terrier, Keroberous, who left us to make his journey across the rainbow bridge three months ago today. Even though it's been three months, not a day goes by without me thinking of him, and without my heart aching over losing him. Kero was more than just a dog to me; he was my best friend.

The other is my landlord, who died at the very end of October. We didn't know him well, but he'd talk to us whenever he saw us, and was a very nice gentleman with a friendly attitude and a great love of animals. He turned 90 years old a couple of months ago, and had been unwell for a while, so it wasn't unexpected. But losing someone is never pleasant, no matter whether it was unexpected or not, and no matter how well you knew them.

I also know others who have lost someone recently; whether it be someone close to them, or someone they hardly knew. Every loss is a difficult loss. So, while I will remember those brave men and women who lost their lives fighting for us, I will also remember the other losses; recent or otherwise. Because everyone deserves to be remembered!

May those we have lost rest in peace; secure in the knowledge that their memory will live on, even though they're gone. And may those who are left behind find the strength to keep going; even when doing so feels like an almost impossible task!
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 11, 2014 03:14

November 10, 2014

Crafty update - November 10th 2014

I don't have much to update you on with crafts this time. But here's what I've got to share...

Here's a card I made to put a note in when I sent something to Rita recently. I thought it would be nicer than just a plain note.


This card I made for a very good friend of mine, who had his birthday at the start of November:


And here's the card I made for our niece, Tamara, who had her birthday at the end of October:


I did also finnish making the blanket I was making myself. But I keep forgetting to get Kelly to help me sort photos of it. He'll take the photos as soon as I remember to ask him, I'm sure, LOL! Anyway, I'll get pictures at some point, and post them when I can. But, hey, at least I finnished making it in time for the cold weather, so we both have a new knitted blanket to curl up under this Winter. With how chilly it's gotten already, we need them too!
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 10, 2014 03:08

November 8, 2014

Halloween photos 2014 (FD)

Yeah, I know Halloween was over a week ago, so I'm a bit late with these. But here are my Halloween decorations for this year anyway. Better late than never, right?



I've had these masks a couple of years, but this year I used some sticky tape and googly eyes to give these masks eyes, and then added tongues using some craft felt and more sticky tape. The kids who came trick-or-treating thought it was great.


While looking in my craft box for my googly eye collection, I found this large foam maple leaf. I thought it would be a nice addition to our Halloween decorations, so made a hole in the top to thread some string through to hang it up. Well, actually it's wool I used to hang it up, since I only remembered after cutting the wool that I do actually have some string in one of my craft boxes.


Kelly painted this bat for me a couple of years ago.


I bet this year's Mr. Pumpkin-Head felt very important to be put in charge of the "beware" sign by the gate, and greet the trick-or-treaters as they arrived. I'm sure he loved all the comments about him from children and adults alike.


Here's a close up of this year's Mr. Pumpkin-Head:


I didn't get a photo of it, but I made pasta with pumpkin sage sauce and cheese for dinner the day I carved Mr. Pumpkin-Head.

Anyway... That's all folks... Happy Halloween!
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 08, 2014 06:53

November 5, 2014

Winter is coming... It's time for a giveaway!

Winter is coming, the weather is getting colder, and book lovers are preparing to curl up with a good book and a mug of hot chocolate beside the fire, or in their favourite reading chair.

If you're one of those people, you should head on over to Random Smiles and enter the "Winter Is Coming" giveaway!

If you do, you could win copies of books by myself and many other awesome authors!

That's right! Just go to http://mooneyesrandomsmile.blogspot.ca/2014/11/winter-is-coming-giveaway.html and you could be reading a pile of free books this Winter!

Complete giveaway details can be found on the post I just linked to.
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 05, 2014 03:48

November 4, 2014

Random ramblings - November 4th 2014

Today is Iggy's birthday, so... Happy birthday, Iggy!

***

We had an excellent storm early hours of this morning. We've had a few decent ones, but this one was quite impressive. Of course, what I'd really love is some of that snow that some parts of the US and Canada already seem to be getting. Don't get me wrong, I love a good thunder storm. I can't help being jealous of the people who have snow already though!

***

We had 11 kids show up for trick-or-treating this year: 2 zombies, 2 skeletal ghouls, 2 princesses, a werewolf, a goblin, a ghost, a witch, and a cat. Not too bad, but I'd have liked to have had a few more. They all loved the pumpkin I carved though, so that's pretty cool. Should have some photos of my pumpkin and our other few Halloween decorations, but they're still on the camera (along with all those other photos I mentioned; one day we'll get to them, honest).

***

It's time for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), butI'm not bothering with it at all this year. Last year I used NaNoWriMo to give myself a nudge to sit down and finnish the stack of half written stories I had, but I don't have that problem this year. In fact, I recently pre-released one called "Lonely Little Princess" that I hadn't planned to be done with until early next year, will be pre-releasing one called "The Forgotten Angel" very soon, and am just doing the final edits of "Yua And The Great Wizard Hunt" too. The three titles I just mentioned will be available in late November, December, and January respectively. I'm also quite a way through work on a story called "Isabelle's runaway Racehorse" and have started work on the book I'm doing for Bilbo and Baggins (our gerbils). Oh, and I have a poetry collection just about sorted ready to be published early next year too. So, yeah, I don't really need the nudge from NaNoWriMo this year; I have plenty on the go, but am doing just fine with actually sitting down and working on them. I even have covers for all the books I just mentioned, except the gerbil story; all but the one for "The Forgotten Angel" done by Iggy, actually. And I was just talking to Jacob this morning about covers for a series of books with faerie dragons in them, which I have some scribbles for already, and will be working on properly soon.
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 04, 2014 09:04

October 31, 2014

October 2014 reading challenge - Halloween costumes

As usual, there was another reading challenge on one of the groups I'm on over on Goodreads.

This month's reading challenge was to read books to represent the top 10 Halloween costumes.

I actually got them all read about half way through the month, but decided to hold off posting until today, since it's a Halloween challenge and today is Halloween. So, here's the list, and the details for what I read for each costume:

10. Superman - Read any book with the main character has some sort of power.

The MegaDog Tales 2: The Regal Beagle (MegaDog Tales, #2) by Dale Alderman ~ read on October 8th 2014.

9. Cat Woman - Read any book that contains a feline shifter as one of the characters.

Boil (Salem's Revenge, #2) by David Estes ~ read on October 3rd 2014.

8. Ghost - Read a book that has ghosts in it

Wedding March And Other Ghost Stories by Timothy Frost ~ read on October 9th 2014.

7. Princess - Read any book that is magical or maybe in a magical kingdom OR a book that is classified as "Fantasy"

The Ice Princess by Katie M John ~ read on October 17th 2014.

6. Vixen - Read a book that contains bad girls or mean girls OR a book that is classified as "Thriller"

Upside Down Fairy Stories: Wolfie And The Red Hoods by Janine Everall ~ read on October 5th 2014.

5. Zombie's - Read a book that contains zombies OR read a book that's classified as "horror."

900 Miles: A Zombie Novel by S. Johnathan Davis ~ read on October 4th 2014.

4. Batman - Read a graphic novel OR read a book that contains superheroes.

The MegaDog Tales: Unleash The Power (MegaDog Tales, #1) by Dale Alderman ~ read on October 7th 2014.

3. Pirate - Read a book that at least partially takes place at sea OR read a book with a body of water on its cover.

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift ~ read on October 1st 2014.

2. Vampire - Read a book that contains vampires OR read a book classified as "paranormal."

Time Immortal: Tales Of Marcus, The Blind Vampire by Laura A. Ellison ~ read on October 6th 2014.

1. Witch - Witch. This costume is a timeless classic. Read a book that contains witches OR read a book classified as a classic.

Brew (Salem's Revenge, #1) by David Estes ~ read on October 2nd 2014.

***

Happy Halloween!

Blessed Samhain!

Or whatever the appropriate holiday greeting is for what you celebrate today (if anything)!
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 31, 2014 04:19

Zigler News

Victoria Zigler
Author and book news for children's author and poet, Victoria Zigler, as well as general news from the life of the Zigler family; furry and otherwise! ...more
Follow Victoria Zigler's blog with rss.